Many outdoor activities, such as hunting, fishing, camping, etc., involve clean-up requirements for which an outdoor sink would be desirable. Although many camp grounds have running water via an outdoor faucet, most outdoor areas do not have outdoor sinks where clean-up tasks, such as cleaning fish and game, washing pots and pans, etc., can be done. Moreover, although most homes have outdoor water faucets (i.e., for attaching to garden hoses), they do not have outdoor sinks for clean-up tasks such as painting projects, washing dogs, potting plants, etc.
Some attempts have been made in the past to provide portable sinks that can be used outdoors. For example, in Leavitt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,594,938, a portable camping sink that includes a tank and tub hinged together, that can be locked together during transportation, and placed in an open position during use, is disclosed. The tank contains water used to provide the tub (sink) with its own water supply. Also, in Valbuena, U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,169, a portable camping sink with a pressurized water supply is disclosed. The sink has a main case and an open top with a hinged cover. Valbuena also provides its own water supply so that it can be used much like a sink at home. Another attempt relates to a portable kitchen unit that includes a detachable sink, shown in Peterson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,157. This sink is said to have many uses, including as a lid, lock, wash basin, stand, table, storage bin, etc. This sink, however, does not have its own water supply, and has no means of providing water; it simply shows a container that serves as a sink basin.
What is needed, therefore, is a portable sink that can not only be easily transported and set up in an outdoor environment, but that also has several optional and desirable features, including without limitation, legs that unfold to support the sink, a connection to an existing water supply, a spray nozzle for spraying water, an adjustable spigot, storage for various utensils and appliances, ledges for supporting cutting boards, shelves on the inside of a lid cover, fold-down panels, funnel/strainer assemblies, detachable faucet assmblies, double wall construction for enabling the sink to double as an ice chest, etc.